Martha widened her eyes at her husband: "Dear, you can't be thinking of..."
"That's right!" Harper excitedly pulled her along, "We can be like Miles and go to the West Coast for gold. Just think, two years later we come back laden with gold, buy the best land next to the church, and add dozens of slaves!"
Martha, in turn, held his arm: "Dear, do you know how far California is?"
She was born into a small official's family in Charleston, and her mother taught her not only to read but also quite a bit of geography and history.
However, after her mother passed away, her stepmother didn't want to waste any dowry on her, so married her off to a poor distant relative, Harper.
Harper scratched his head: "It can't be farther than Charleston to here, right?"
"Much farther," the woman said seriously, "And along the way are vast desolate lands, thousands of miles occupied by Indian territories. You should know how fierce they are."
